Comment Economics (Score 1) 1142
Economics - hands down. It's obvious that way too many people have no clue.
NYT's "Games To Avoid" an Ironic, Perfect Gamer Wish List 189
MojoKid writes "From October to December, the advertising departments of a thousand companies exhort children to beg, cajole, and guilt-trip their parents for all manner of inappropriate digital entertainment. As supposedly informed gatekeepers, we sadly earthbound Santas are reduced to scouring the back pages of gaming review sites and magazines, trying to evaluate whether the tot at home is ready for Big Bird's Egg Hunt or Bayonetta. Luckily, The New York Times is here to help. In a recent article provokingly titled 'Ten Games to Cross off Your Child's Gift List,' the NYT names its list of big bads — the video games so foul, so gruesome, so perverse that we'd recommend you buy them immediately — for yourself. Alternatively, if you need gift ideas for the surly, pale teenager in your home whose body contains more plastic then your average d20, this is the newspaper clipping to stuff in your pocket. In other words, if you need a list like this to understand what games to not stuff little Johnny's stocking with this holiday season, you've got larger issues you should concern yourself with. We'd suggest picking up an auto-shotty and taking a few rounds against the horde — it's a wonderful stress relief and you're probably going to need it."
Battle.net Accounts Becoming Mandatory For WoW 234
An anonymous reader tips news that Blizzard will be requiring all World of Warcraft players to use Battle.net accounts to log into the game starting on November 11th. After that time, players who don't switch will be unable to play the game. Some time after the transition is complete, players will be able to "participate in cross-realm chat in World of Warcraft, create real-life friends lists, and communicate across different games." More details on the new Battle.net and what it will do are available in our Blizzcon wrap-up and interviews from August. Naturally, the idea that the new Battle.net is getting closer to deployment has sparked speculation that the StarCraft II beta might come along soon.
US Colleges Say Hiring US Students a Bad Deal 490
theodp writes "Many US colleges and universities have notices posted on their websites informing US companies that they're tax chumps if they hire students who are US citizens. 'In fact, a company may save money by hiring international students because the majority of them are exempt from Social Security (FICA) and Medicare tax requirements,' advises the taxpayer-supported University of Pittsburgh (pdf) as it makes the case against hiring its own US students. You'll find identical pitches made by the University of Delaware, the University of Cincinnati, Kansas State University, the University of Southern California, the University of Wisconsin, Iowa State University, and other public colleges and universities. The same message is also echoed by private schools, such as John Hopkins University, Brown University, Rollins College and Loyola University Chicago."
Comment The needed warning-shot (Score 1) 438
I don't care much whether they delay or not, but I think what they SHOULD do is shut down the signals on Feb 17th as planned, but only for 24 hours. Then, tell the whiners "ok, we've been warning you for years now, that was your final warning". Then shut it off on the new deadline without any additional delays - because you know there WILL be more complaining when that day rolls around too.
Of course, this would all have to also depend on the gov't actually getting those coupons out to everybody - THAT you can't blame them for.
Comment You kidding me? (Score 1) 474
I live in Apalachin, NY - sort of an outskirt of the metropolis of Binghamton, NY. One of my oak trees this year produced more acorns than the 3 oaks in my yard typically produce in a year combined. It was absolutely amazing. We raked up buckets-full of acorns and acorn-related debris (left behind by our now amazingly fat squirrels and chipmunks) several times this fall.
We're hunkering down for what we predict to be a long winter.
Comment Coulomb (Score 1, Funny) 436
It sounds neat...
coulomb....coulomb....coulomb....
Then it doesn't sound like a word..
coulomb....coulomb....coulomb....
Video Games Linked To Child Aggression 500
the4thdimension writes "CNN is running a story this morning that explains new research showing a correlation between video games and aggression in children. The study monitored groups of US and Japanese children, asking them to rate their violent behavior over a period of several months while they played video games in their free time. The study concludes that it has 'pretty good evidence' that there is a link between video games and childhood aggression." Stories like this make me want to smash things.
Replacing Fiber With 10 Gigabit/Second Wireless 107
Chicken_dinner writes "Engineers at Battelle have come up with a way to send data through the air at 10 Gigabits per second using point-to-point millimeter-wave technology. They used standard optical networking equipment and essentially combined two lower bandwidth signals to produce a 10Gb signal from the interference. They say the technology could replace fiber optics around large campuses or companies or even deliver high-bandwidth streaming within the home."
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